DLA Bulletin Volume 28, Number 4

OelawaRe
LIBRaRY
association
Bulletin
SPR ING 1975
SPRING, 1975
VOLUME 28, NO. 4
DELAWARE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION BULLETIN
DELAWARE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OFFICERS 1975 - 76
President •••••••••••••••.••••••••••• ••• •• • .• •.•• Mrs . Jane Hukill
Vice President •••••••••••••• ••••••• •••••• ••• •• • . Mrs. John C. Painter
Secretary •••••••••• . ••.••••.•. • ••••••••••. • 0 •••• Mr . Wa1te,r Liefe1d
Treasurer .. 8 ••••••••••••• If ••••• e • «) •• ell • •• " a COO " t: Mrs e Barbara May
Immediate Past President •••.••• •••••••••••••• c •• Mrs . Irene Larrimore
ALA Councilor ••••••.••.• • . ••• ••••• . •••••• •• " •• •• Mrs . Myrtice Wickham
MARLF Representatives •••.•••.• •••• . • •• ••• • ••• o oo Mrs . Genevieve Brown
Mrs. Jean Trumbore
COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN
Historian •••••• 0 •• 0 ~ ••••• 00' 0.0 ••••• 0 ••••• •• ••• 0 Mr . William Calhoon
Membership........ . ... . .. .. .... .. . . .. • ... . ... Mr . David Burdash
Library Deve1opment • •............ . o •••••••••• • •• Mrs . Billie Jean Ouellette
Scholarships and Awards •• •• .•.. . . . .• . .•• .. . .. . . • Ms . Norma Jean Lynch
Intellectual Freedom ••....••.... •. .... •••. . .• ~ . o Mr ~ Robert H. Marshall
Program and Hospitality ••...... . • .•. ... . .. . . • • . v Mr . John C. Painter
Finance" •..................... . . e •• " CI •• •• • • " • • "" * Mrs ,. Barbara May
Publications and Publicity .•.. •. . . .. ..•.. . • ..... Ms . Judy l1atz
PUBLIC LIBRARY DIVISION
President ••....•.•............. .• . . .. • ..... . ~.< Mr . Benedict Prestianni
Vice President ••.............•. • . • . . .•. .••.•. • 0 0 Ms . Wendy Robi nson
Secretary. • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . • . . .• Mrs 0 Nancy Gar dner
Treasurer. • . • . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .• Mrs . Sarah Fou1krod
COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES DI VISION
President. " ................... ... .. .... ... . 0000 0 Mr o Floyd C. Hardy
Vice President ••.••................ . .. • . .... .• . • Mr v Paul Lawless
Secretary ••.••• e. e ............... .. ... It . 0 • ••• • e" " Ms <# Mary Byrne
Treasurer ............. 0 • If • G •• e I) •• e • • • 0 & • • •• • 00 8 a Ms .. Jane DiCecco
AN INTERVIEW WITH NEW CASTLE COUNTY LIBRARIAN
The following interview was made with Samuel Douglas
on April 18, 1975 by Bill Morgan . Sam Douglas is the newly appointed
Director of the New Castle County Library Department . He is the past
acting director of the Bureau of Libraries and Museums for the Virgin
Islands. The Delaware Library Association Bulletin thanks Mr . Douglas
for hi.s kindness in permitting this interview .
Bulletin:- What have you been going since you began
February l7?
Sam Doublas: What we have been doing mostly is setting up the
legislation to change staff from different organizations
to the county system. We've been setting u~ a book
processing system for the county and also I ve spent a
lot of time on the budget; libraries are a new thing for
the county people . I've been busy visiting, learning and
meeting.
Bulletin: Will the new county system tend to stereotype each
member library?
S~m. Doug. l~s: What we've been trying to do is to identify what is
special about each library and reinforce it somehow, make
it better, and then to provide those services which aren't
provided at all.
Bulle~tn: Then you hope to keep the member libraries individual?
S'am Douglas: I want to individualize them even more. I hope the
libraries can surface with their own personalities. For
example, you wouldn't want the same kind of library in a
university community as you would in a true blue collar
community. The way to allow these libraries to grow is to
allow the middle management to occur at the libraries,
coupled with certain basic improvements in the professional
services. We'll have 7 professional vacancies to fill,
but even our job specifications haven't been approved.
Bullettn: At the county budget meeting you sounded like you
Sam Douglas:
wanted to change the hours at Claymont in particular.
Claymont in particular,
congested area with a lot of
to open it 20 hours a week.
It's a happy place; everyone
wouldn't want this system to
feeling about the library or
destroy the circulation .
because that is a very
housing . We're goint to try
It's completely volunteer now.
has a great time there . We
corne in and lose that good
to do something that would
( continued - over)
Interview - Continued
Bulletin: What other changes do you foresee?
Sam Douglas: The libraries are such low profile now; we don't
Bulletin:
Sam Douglas:
Bulletin:
Sam Douglas:
Bulletin:
Sam Douglas:
Bulletin:
Sam Douglas:
have any publicity unless something bad happens with the
county counciL I want to make the library and bookmobiles
more attractive and int eresting 0
Almost every library has its own Delaware. collection .
I don't know exactly what t hose collections are used
for -- some of them are very decorative . I wouldn ' t
think that a person would be doing in dep t h research or
genealogical research in the small er l i braries .
We've been asked to provide bookmobile service
to the city of Wilmington . I guess what we'll t~y to do
is take the backup bookmobile and make it one that
would have appropriate collections for city stoPS j
Bookmobiles don 't necessarily have to have books; ' you
could run a puppet s how out of one ! Ane we're tentatively
planning a number of public l i brary pr omot ions . We
may all sit down one day and think of extreme things
to do, then take the ten bes t and do them.. Most of
this will be aimed at the childr en , because if you can
get the children interested t he parents will come along
teo . At the same time you build your constituency for
20 years from now. We ' d like t o have a drive to have
every child in New Castle County have a library card .
To do these t hings you foresee working with other
agencies?
Yes, it seems t hat the schools and t he public
libraries have sort of a s tandoff, except those which
were school dis trict libraries. No matt er how you
look at it, it requires a real program of activities
centering around a book collec tion of some kind" You
could link the libr ary program into a bilingual program.
What other areas do you see as weaknesses?
I don't think l i braries are dealing realistically
with institutionalized persons; it seems ve.ry half-time ,
And shut-ins?
I don 't know how much of t he i ndividualized
service we'll be able to provide with t he s t affing we
have now; the deposit collections are a little easier
to manage o Shut ~ in service by mail will work all rightw
How political do you see the new library system
as being?
I don 't see my job as a political thing , I'm
simply a pro fess iona.l librarian brought in to t r y t o
(continued other s i de)
Intervi ew - Continued
construct a system from a variety of librar ies. The one
weakness in this political type of structure is that
perhaps the county librarian s houldn!t be t he director
of the library department e It's a shaky thing; I serve
at the pleasure of the county executive with the approval
of the county council. So at the end of an election
year I may not please the next county executive . Library
work is slow work. It's s low to grow and management
changes are very, very disruptive to library work because
your programs grow slowly and they need a lot of babying
to grow. So perhaps the county librarian ought to be
a classified merit system position .: I fm talking about
the future -- at this point it doesn I t really much matter _,
Bulletin: What kind of state-wide e f fec t do you t hink the
New Castle system will have?
Sam Douglas: Obviously New Castle County does have economic
resources in excess of t he other counties. I would hop~
that we could take the initiatives and the leadership
that's necessary to develop thi s system and t hat by
doing that , it will demonstrate t o the elected off i cers
of the other counties that it is a workable, useful
way to approach library servic e . I would certainly offer
my assistance in any way possible and would like to
ask their advice too .. You're always running t he risk of
a more populous place being patroni zing towards other
places . I think tha·t if we start out realizing t hat
we're not going to take this attitude , then we s houldn' t
have any problem,.
Bulletin: What kind of cooperation do you hope for?
Sam Douglas: If our book processing center, f or ex.ample , works
better than the Mar y land Processing Center, I wou ld
think that the other counties might want to participate
with us . The difficulty is that we don't know what
the role of the s t ate library is going to develop into .
It's an improving holding action right now ,
If we 're succes ful, Kent and Sussex Counties will
have a much better opportunity to create something .
I hope they won 't laugh at our failures, because there
are going to be failures too ,
ETHNIC SALUTE SUB-COMMITTEE REPORT
Interesting replies have been received from the Irish, Polish,
German and Ukrainian ethnic communities in Delaware . Our DLA Ethnic
Salute sub-committee i-s optimistic that we will be hearing fr>om
representatives of Chinese, Korean, Italian, French, Scottish, Greek,
African, Jewish, Latin American and Indian communities . Evidently,
this information gathering task, although a Bicentennial project,
will be an important and on going project, because there are many
phases and dimensions to the life styles, holiday observances, religious
affiliations and customs of each ethnic community . Most ethnic community
groups can boast outstanding people male and female, in any number of
fascinating positions and occupations, whose contributions to society
and life in general are unheralded, and genuinely need recognition and
documentationQ It is amazing to discover the great divers~ty of people
in Delaware . It is with pride and a great sense of appreciation that
we hope to salute our ethnic communities .
I am presently representing DLA as a partic ipating member of
the DARBC'S Ethnic Month Committee o I have attended two meetings aimed
at coordinating ethnic community activities and projects for October,
1975, which has been officially designated as Ethnic Salute Month.
Currently there seem to be too many parti san interests held by various
committee members, which is impe.ding real progress in cooperative
action . Miss Pauline Ao Young is chairperson of this committee which
is comprised of several dozen representatives from various ethnic
groups and agencies o There is a musical presentation tentatively scheduled
for October 24, 1975 at Salesianum High School in Wilmington ~ This
program will feature presentations by as many community groups as possible,
including all forms of entertainment .
I shall continue to in,form DLA members concerning our progress in
our information gathering project and in planning for a successful
celebration in October .
* * *
Respectfully submitted,
Jeremiah E. Greene, Jr.
REPORT ON SPRING MEETING
* *
The' annual spring meeting of DLA was held at t he Dover Sheraton Inn
on April 16, 1975 . The program served as a preparation for Bicentennial
commemoration of the arts and sports in Delaware . Eighty-two members
attended .
The afternoon presentation, Arts in Delaware, featured a film on the
history and restoration of the Grand Opera House in Wilmington and a
slide-narrative on the Corbit-Sharp House in Odessa .
Columnist Al Cartwright addressed the membership on Sports in Delaware .
Mr e Cartwright served. as Sports Editor for t he News Journal papers for
twenty-five years o He is now well known by all Delawareans for his current
column in the Evening Journal and his book entitled A la Carte ~ Mr .
Cartwright laced his overview of sports history in Delaware with little ,
known facts on Delaware teams and tales of the illegal racecourse at Hare s
Corner in the mid 19th centuryo A surprise to the dinner meeting was a
karate demonstration which ended the day on an unusual note .
NOTICES
CONTINUING EDUCATIOr FOR DELAWARE LIBRARIANS
Considerat ion is bei ng gi ven to the possiblity of deve l oping opportun­ities
for continuing education for librarians in the stat e . The pr ogram
could include wor kshops, s emi nars, and/or minicour ses conducted by
qualified instruct or s . Since post- library school education of any
kind is not available in the s ate, employed librarians may wish to
up-date skills or knowl edge . Certainly most library education, '
especially if acquired i n the sixties or before , did not have suffi cient
content on such subjects as library administration, with emphasis on
personnel, accounti ng , and gener al business management i n l ib r ar ies ~
Many librar ians mi ght wish to learn more about t he appl i cati'on of
computer technology to libraries or about the new media .
If the survey reveals suffic ent interest, a planning committee will
be formed to develop a program for next fall.,
Please address suggestions and requests for informat ion to Helen Barnett,
Delaware Technical and Community College, 330 E ~ 30t h Street, Wilmington,
Delaware 19802 g
LEND A HAND
The Episcopal Church Home a 't Lancaster Pi ke and Ol d Wi lmington
Road has a small library in need of expert volunteer assis t ance in or­ganizing
the co1lectiono Any amount of time would be greatly app r eciated ~
Please con t ac t :
Miss Mort on 99 5-2689
or
Mrs . Rea sor 998- 0161 (Fridays )
FACTS ABOUT NEW ALA DUES
The new rate f or personal members is $35 basic membership for
librarians , trustees and friends of libraries , Division member ships
are an additional $15 0 You must be an ALA member to join a division o
Students and non - salaried or retired librarians pay $10 basic dues plus
$15 for each di vis ion , The rate for foreign librarians (not employed
in the U. S. or U. So possessions) is $20 basic dues plus $15 per division .
-Introduct or y Offers
~ '• • The Executive Board appr oved two specia.l i ntroductory offer s f or 1975 .
10 With payment of t he basic $35 dues) new members
(joini ng ALA for t he first ime) will receive t heir
choi ce of one di vis ion membershi p a 't no addi t ional
char ge o
20 New members of ALA and t-he American Li b' ary Trustee
Assoc i ation (AL A) ar e eligible f o: a dues rate of $25
whi ch i ncluded both basLc ALA dues and ALTA divis i on
dues 0
( 'ontinued her side)
-Organization and Special Dues Rates remain unchanged . The ALA adminis­trative
staff will be working this year on proposals for revisions of
the organization dues schedule . Ideas and suggestions for improved
organization dues, especially for improved benefits are welcome
(and needed) .
-Life Members continue to receive two free division memberships per
year . Additional life divisional memberships are available to life
members at $50 eacho
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
American Library Association
50 E. Huron Street
Chicago, IL 60611
SPEAK UP
The DLA Bulletin news·1etter is your vehicle for complaints, suggestions,
for sharing your successes and your ideas on improving library service
in Delaware . Only active participation by all DLA members will make
the Bulletin interesting and informative 0
So let us know what you are doing ! Send your information (any
format acceptable) to the DLA Bulletin, P.O. Box 1843, Wilmington,
Delaware 19899.
(Over)
~~.~--------------------------------------------------------------------------~
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
District of
Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Montgomery
Juneau
Phoenix
Little Rock
Sacramento
Denver
Hartford
36104
99801
85007
72201
95814
30203
06115
Washington,D . C. 20013
Tallahassee
Atlanta
Honolulu on
Oahu
Boise
Springfield
Indianapolis
Des Moines
Topeka
Frankfort
Baton Rouge
32304
30334
96813
83702
62706
4 6204
50319
66612
40601
70804
Maine Augusta 04330
Maryland Annapolis 21404
Massachusetts Boston 02133
Michigan Lansing 48933
Minnesota St . Paul 55101
Mississippi Jackson 39201
Missouri Jefferson City 65101
Nebraska
Nevada
Montana
Lincoln 68509
Car son City 89701
Helena 59601
New Hampshire
New Jersey
Concord 03301
Trenton 08608
New Mexico Santa Fe 87501
New York Albany 12225
North Carolina Raleigh
North Dakota Bismark
Ohio Columbus
Oklahoma
Oklahoma City
Oregon Salem
Pennsylvania Harrisburg
Rhode Island Providence
South Carolina Columbia
South Dakota Pierre
Tennessee Nashville
Texas Austin
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Salt Lake
City
Montpelier
Richmond
Olympia
Charleston
Madison
Cheyenne
27603
58501
43215
73105
97301
17120
02903
29201
57501
37219
78701
84114
05602
23219
98501
25305
53702
82001
I thought perhaps you would like to save time and effort by using my list
if you care to request material regarding what the other states are doing
for the Bicentennial o
Alyce Bower

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